Chapter 2 The basic principles of Marxism-Leninism have not changed so far, and individual conclusions can be changed[1]

(February 14, 1959) Matt: I have some theoretical questions that are not clear and I want to mention them here.Mr. Chairman is the world's top theorist, do you have time to answer? Mao Zedong: Your statement is wrong. M: I have read many theoretical works.I think only Lenin and your writings are the best. Mao: Being busy with work, I don't have enough time to study theoretical issues. M: In my opinion, the so-called Marxism-Leninism refers to the writings of Marx and Lenin.Among them, materialism belonging to epistemology is a universal truth, and some of them are specific and practical theories that must be investigated in practice.In this regard, does the theory of the latter part of Marxism-Leninism need to be constantly changed?

Chairman Mao: Your way of speaking is inappropriate. Marxism-Leninism has not changed to this day.Materialism is not equal to Marxism-Leninism. There was materialism before Marxism, and the bourgeoisie once played materialism, such as French materialism.Dialectics was not discovered by Marx. For example, Germany had idealist dialectics in the past.Marx transformed these two things.He transformed materialism into dialectical materialism, arguing that the world is connected and developing.Why is there development? Because there are contradictions.He transformed dialectics into materialist dialectics.Materialist dialectics is a dialectics that correctly reflects the objective world, which is different from German Hegel's idealist dialectics.As for the inappropriate conclusions of Marx and Lenin on individual issues, this situation is possible because it was limited by the conditions at the time, such as Marx's conclusion that the proletarian revolution first won victory in several Western countries at the same time.

M: That's exactly the question I want to ask. Chairman Mao: Lenin has already solved this problem. M: Lenin changed some Marxist teachings, saying that the proletarian revolution can be victorious in a single country. Mao: Marx and Engels said that the proletarian revolution would take place simultaneously in several economically and culturally developed countries, but this conclusion has now been changed.For example, Russia lagged behind Western Europe economically but was the first to win the revolution.This proves that the proletarian revolution can be victorious in one country first.

M: This was unexpected. Even Lenin realized it after the fact. Mao: Lenin had already discovered it before the October Revolution. M: But after the February Revolution. Mao: In the later period of his research work, Lenin pointed out the imperialist stage of capitalist development, saw the law of unbalanced capitalist development, which might lead to a world war, and revolution might break out in one or several countries first. This possibility also exists in Eastern countries. M: Lenin saw it later. Mao: Lenin studied this question during the First World War and came to the conclusion that the proletarian revolution can win first in one country. [2] Of course, he did not foresee in what country the victory would be won first.

M: Lenin said that the dictatorship can only be carried out by one political party, but Mr. Chairman said that the dictatorship of the proletariat can be carried out jointly by several political parties. Does this mean that we depart from Marxism-Leninism? Chairman Mao: It cannot be said that we have departed from Marxism-Leninism.China's democratic revolution can be said to be carried out jointly by several political parties, but the Communist Party is the leader.There were two revolutions in China: the bourgeois-democratic revolution before 1949, to solve the problem of anti-imperialism, anti-feudalism, and anti-KMT rule. At that time, we did not touch the ownership of the national bourgeoisie; the latter revolution, you must know , it touched the ownership of the national bourgeoisie and the ownership of individual handicrafts and individual agriculture.The socialist transformation of these ownerships went through several steps.The last revolution has been basically completed after several years.Both revolutions were carried out under the leadership of the Communist Party.

M: I knew it the day after China was liberated.China's socialist transformation took place after liberation, but China has long known that it is taking the road of socialism. Chairman Mao: We moved comprador capital first, but we did not move national capital for several years.As for individual peasants, we first allocate the land to the peasants, and then organize them into cooperatives.For national capital, we transform it in several steps, and the last step is public-private partnership.The country adopted a policy of peaceful redemption, and the redemption was divided into several years.Now, those enterprises originally owned by national capital are managed by the state.

China's capitalism in the past was mainly bureaucratic capital and imperialist capital, accounting for 80 percent, while national capital accounted for only 20 percent.After bureaucratic capital and imperialist capital are owned by the state, the main part of capital is already owned by the state.We adopt a moderate policy towards national capital. Ma: I agree with China's approach. Mao: The capitalists are cooperating with us now. M: There is another theoretical question, why did Marxism first win in the economically backward countries in the East? Mao: The reason is very simple.The rulers of the Eastern countries cannot solve the problems of their countries, and the primary task of the people of the Eastern countries is to fight against imperialism and feudalism.These countries are poorly exploited by western countries.The East mentioned here includes Asia, Africa and Latin America, the so-called rear of imperialism.

M: Some of the practical parts of Marxism-Leninism are no longer applicable.For example, in Western countries, the social economy is monopolized, but politically it is not always the case, because there is still freedom, and this freedom does not affect the development of society.So, can these two things, the socio-economic system and political dictatorship, be separated? Chairman Mao: First of all, we must analyze dictatorship. The so-called freedom in Western countries is actually the freedom of capitalists to exploit. Ma: Agreed.China is to liberate people from the economy. Chairman Mao: The political power in Western countries cannot be controlled by the majority, but only by capitalists. This is dictatorship.

M: Why didn’t the Communist Party of those countries come to power? Chairman Mao: Because the capitalists do not allow it. M: In Chile, it is possible for the Communist Party to come to power. Chairman Mao: Today there are still many people who invest in the votes of the bourgeoisie. Horse: Why? Chairman Mao: It was the same in China in the past, and there were very few people in favor of us at first.After 28 years, from 1921 to 1949, we gradually won the support of the people. M: Western countries have experienced it for hundreds of years, and it will be the same in another hundred years.

Chairman Mao: But the situation will change in the future. M: Of course it will. This requires a new solution. Chairman Mao: When Marx was alive, he couldn't see all the problems that arose later, and he couldn't solve all these problems at that time.Russia's problems can only be solved by Lenin, and China's problems can only be solved by the Chinese. The settlement of the problems of the Western countries and Latin American countries will be affected by the October Revolution and the Chinese Revolution, but you say that this will be a victory for Marxism-Leninism, not a victory for dialectical materialism.If you adopt this attitude towards Marxism-Leninism, the people of Latin America will doubt Marxism-Leninism.

Mao: The world outlook is dialectical materialism, which is the theoretical basis of the Communist Party.The theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat and class struggle is a theory of revolution, that is, a theory that uses this world outlook to observe and solve revolutionary problems. Marxism-Leninism should consist of three parts: first, the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism, which is the theoretical basis; second, the economics of Marxism-Leninism, which is the theory of examining economic phenomena from the perspective of Marxism-Leninism; third, the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism, such as The doctrine of class struggle, political parties, the dictatorship of the proletariat, etc.These three parts cannot be separated, but should be regarded as three organically linked components of Marxism-Leninism. M: If the world outlook remains unchanged, does it mean that the part of revolutionary theory can be changed? Chairman Mao: It depends on the theory.For example, the theory that a revolution will first win in one country or several countries changed the conclusions of Ma and En. M: If the content of today's talk is published, will anyone think that Mr. Chairman has betrayed Marxism-Leninism? Chairman Mao: I don't think China has betrayed Marxism-Leninism.The Chinese party has always followed the principles of Marxism-Leninism because it is a universal truth.This is a question of the unification of the universal truth and the specific situation in China. Published based on the transcript of the conversation kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is an excerpt from a conversation between Mao Zedong and Arturo Matt Alessandri, the director of Chile's "Last Hour" newspaper. [2] See Lenin's "On the Slogan of the European Federation" (August 1915): "Socialism may win first in a few or even in a single capitalist country." See also Lenin's "The Military Program of the Proletarian Revolution" " (September 1916): "Socialism cannot be victorious in all countries at the same time. It will first be victorious in one or a few countries. The rest will remain bourgeois for a while. Or the country before the bourgeoisie." ("Selected Works of Lenin", Volume 2, People's Publishing House, 1995 edition, pp. 554, 722)